THE FIRST PART OF KING HENRY THE SIXTH. PRELIMINARY NOTICE. THE first edition of this play known, is that of the folio 1623. It is generally supposed to be the same Henery the vj.," somewhat modified and improved by Shakespeare, which is entered in Henslowe's diary as first acted on the 3rd of March, 1591-2, and to which Nash alludes in his "Pierce Pennilesse, his Supplication to the Devil," 1592:-" How would it have joy'd brave Talbot (the terror of the French) to thinke that after he had lyne two hundred yeare in his tombe, he should triumph againe on the stage, and have his bones new embalmed with the teares of ten thousand spectators at least, (at severall times,) who, in the tragedian that represents his person, imagine they behold him fresh bleeding." This opinion has, however, been strenuously impugned by Mr. Knight, in his able "Essay on the Three Parts of King Henry VI. and King Richard III.," wherein he attempts to show, that the present drama, as well as the two parts of the Contention betwixt the two famous houses of Yorke and Lancaster," which Malone has been at such infinite pains to prove the works of earlier writers, are wholly the productions of Shakespeare. 66 The subject is of extreme difficulty, and one upon which there will always be a conflict of opinion. For our own part, we can no more agree with Mr. Knight in ascribing the piece before us solely to Shakespeare, than with Malone in the attempt to despoil him of the two parts of the "Contention." To us, in the present play, the hand of the great Master is only occasionally perceptible; while in the " Contention," it is unmistakeably visible in nearly every scene. The former was probably an early play of some inferior author, which he partly re-modelled; the latter appears to have been his first alteration of a more important production, perhaps by Marlowe, Greene, and Peele, which he subsequently re-wrote, re-christened, and divided, as it now appears, into what are called the Second and Third Parts of Henry VI. Persons Represented. KING HENRY VI. DUKE OF GLOUCESTER, Uncle to the King, and Protector. DUKE OF BEDFORD, Uncle to the King, and Regent of France. THOMAS BEAUFORT, Duke of Exeter, Great Uncle to the King. HENRY BEAUFORT, Great Uncle to the King, Bishop of Winchester, and afterwards Cardinal. JOHN BEAUFORT, Earl of Somerset, afterwards Duke. RICHARD PLANTAGENET, Eldest Son of Richard, late Earl of Cambridge; EARL OF WARWICK. EARL OF SALISBURY. EARL OF SUFFOLK. LORD TALBOT, afterwards Earl of Shrewsbury. EDMUND MORTIMER, Earl of March. SIR JOHN FASTOLFE. SIR WILLIAM LUCY. SIR WILLIAM GLANSDALE. SIR THOMAS GARGRAVE. Mayor of London. WOODVILLE, Lieutenant of the Tower. VERNON, of the White Rose, or York faction. BASSET, of the Red Rose, or Lancaster faction. Mortimer's Keepers. CHARLES, Dauphin, afterwards King of France. REIGNIER, Duke of Anjou, and titular King of Naples. DUKE OF BURGUNDY.. DUKE OF ALENÇON. Bastard of Orleans. Governor of Paris. General of the French Forces in Bourdeaux. Master-Gunner of Orleans, and his Son. A French Sergeant. A Porter. An old Shepherd, father to Joan la Pucelle. MARGARET, Daughter to Reignier; afterwards married to King Henry. JOAN LA PUCELLE, commonly called Joan of Arc. Lords, Warders of the Tower, Heralds, Officers, Soldiers, Messengers, and various Attendants both on the English and French, Fiends appearing to La Pucelle. SCENE,-Partly in England, and partly in France. АСТ I. SCENE I.-Westminster Abbey. Dead March. The corpse of KING HENRY THE FIFTH, discovered lying in State; attended on by the DUKES of BEDFORD, GLOUCESTER, and EXETER; the EARL OF WARWICK; the BISHOP OF WINCHESTER; Heralds, &c. BED. Hung be the heavens with black, (1) yield day to night! And with them scourge the bad revolting stars, GLO. England ne'er had a king until his time. His brandish'd sword did blind men with his beams; More dazzled and drove back his enemies, Than mid-day sun, fierce bent against their faces. What should I say? his deeds exceed all speech: He ne'er lift up his hand but conquered. EXE. We mourn in black, why mourn we not in blood? Henry is dead, and never shall revive: Upon a wooden coffin we attend; And death's dishonourable victory We with our stately presence glorify, Like captives bound to a triumphant car. WIN. He was a king bless'd of the King of kings. So dreadful will not be, as was his sight. The battles of the Lord of hosts he fought: The church's prayers made him so prosperous. GLO. The church! where is it? Had not churchmen pray'd, His thread of life had not so soon decay'd: None do you like but an effeminate prince, • Consented-] Steevens proposed to read concented, believing the word was not employed here in its ordinary sense, but as concentus. VOL. III. X WIN. Gloster, whate'er we like, thou art protector, GLO. Name not religion, for thou lov'st the flesh, BED. Cease, cease these jars, and rest your minds in peace! Let's to the altar:-heralds, wait on us : Instead of gold, we'll offer up our arms, Since arms avail not, now that Henry's dead. Posterity, await for wretched years, When at their mothers' moista eyes, babes shall suck; Our isle be made a marish of salt tears, And none but women left to wail the dead.- C Enter a Messenger. MESS. My honourable lords, health to you all! Paris, Guysors, Poictiers, are all quite lost. BED. What say'st thou, man!" before dead Henry's corse Will make him burst his lead, and rise from death. If Henry were recall'd to life again, These news would cause him once more yield the ghost. That here you maintain several factions; And, whilst a field should be despatch'd and fought, One would have ling'ring wars, with little cost; Another would fly swift, but wanteth wings; Moist-] The reading of the second folio: the first has moisten'd. Marish] The first folio reads Nourish, an evident misprint, but one not lacking defenders. Our reading is Pope's, which Ritson has very well supported by a line from Kyd's "Spanish Tragedy:" "Made mountains marsh with spring-tides of my tears." c Or bright- -] Malone conjectured that the blank arose from the transcriber's or compositor's inability to decipher the name. Johnson would fill it up with "Berenice;" while Mr. Collier's annotator reads, "Cassiopé," which he took from Theobald. See Nichols's Illustrations, Vol. II. p. 452. What say'st thou, man!] This line is invariably printed, "What say'st thou, man, before dead Henry's corse?" A third man thinks, without expense at all, Let not sloth dim your honours, new-begot: EXE. Were our tears wanting to this funeral, Enter a second Messenger. 2 MESS. Lords, view these letters, full of bad mischance: France is revolted from the English quite, Except some petty towns of no import: The Dauphin Charles is crowned king in Rheims'; The bastard of Orleans with him is join'd; Reignier,† duke of Anjou, doth take his part; "The duke of Alençon flieth to his side. EXE. The Dauphin crowned king! all fly to him! O, whither shall we fly from this reproach? GLO. We will not fly, but to our enemies' throats:— BED. Gloster, why doubt'st thou of my forwardness? Enter a third Messenger. 3 MESS. My gracious lords, to add to your laments, Wherewith you now bedew king Henry's hearse,I must inform you of a dismal, fight, Betwixt the stout lord Talbot and the French. WIN. What! wherein Talbot overcame? is 't so? 3 MESS. O, no; wherein lord Talbot was o'erthrown: Having full scarce six thousand in his troop, Instead whereof, sharp stakes, pluck'd out of hedges, To keep the horsemen off from breaking in. (*) First folio omits, man. (†) Old text, Reynold. |